SHAFAQNA – More than 10 million people are also in need of food and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes.

“The situation is catastrophic and looks set to get worse,” said the British Red Cross’s Middle East manager Ted Tuthill.

“The number of people who are in need is staggering and this recent crisis has left food and medicine running dangerously low and houses destroyed or abandoned.”

The British Red Cross is sending £240,000 to towards the immediate relief effort which will fund items such as vital medical supplies and war-wound treatment kits as the number of injuries continues to rise.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is one of the few aid agencies continuing to operate in Yemen and is urging all parties to the conflict to allow aid workers to operate safely following the death of the a Yemen Red Crescent worker this week. It is also calling for the safe passage of supplies into the country.

It currently has more than 300 staff on the ground and is working with the Yemen Red Crescent to provide ambulances, emergency health care, help with evacuations and body retrieval.